“When we started the initial planning phase of this, there were a couple of things that we hoped to accomplish,” he said. “One, we hoped to make it a high-end event so we could raise as much money as possible.

“So we limited to 20 teams, and in about a month’s time we were able to sell those 20 teams. They’re some of the biggest CEOs and executives here in the Houston business community.”

“The second thing was to use this as an awareness builder, sort of a brand builder for the urban youth academy to bring attention to some of the efforts that we’re trying to do in the inner city,” said Taylor, who is African American. “The third thing was more personal for me because I grew up in the projects on the South Side of Chicago on welfare.

“Along the way over many years now, people like me and the supporters of this golf event offered a hand up, and it made all the difference in the world for me. So this is bigger than just the Astros and the Astros Foundation for me. It’s very personal because I could see myself in these kids 30 or 40 years ago.”

Crane said he expected to raise about $250,000 at the golf tournament.

“We’ll continue to focus on giving that back to the Houston community,” Crane said. “This is the first year we’ll do it, and we’ll continue to get it bigger and better as we get going. We have a sold out venue.”